


Our Color is Blue

by Amonae



Series: Holiday Gifts 2016 [5]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Early in Canon, Flirting, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Tony being a general pain in the ass, blueberry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-30
Updated: 2017-01-30
Packaged: 2018-09-20 20:51:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9514862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amonae/pseuds/Amonae
Summary: Steve turns down a snack from Tony, not realizing how irritating it will be in the long run. When he’s had enough, he hunts down Tony for a confrontation.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Veldeia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Veldeia/gifts).



> For [Veldeia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Veldeia), as part of my own personal holiday gift exchange (since the thought of doing an organized exchange in my current life situation gave me hives). Thank you for helping to make 2016 a little less of a screaming dumpster fire. 
> 
> Your prompt, if you have forgotten, was “blueberry.” Enjoy. <3
> 
> Thank yous are owed to [dapperanachronism](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dapperanachronism) and [robin_tcj](https://archiveofourown.org/users/robin_tcj). You guys are fantastic for looking over this for me!

Steve hadn’t thought he’d reacted much to the proffered snack food, despite the twitch of irritation he felt the second he realized how _not_ seriously Stark was taking everything. He figured he’d done a pretty good job of covering that up.

But no, apparently that wasn’t the case, because the next thing he knew he was running into a variation of the berry treats at every turn. Blueberry muffins in the break room, blueberry tea steeping on the edge of Doctor Banner’s workstation, and even _Thor_ eating some kind of blueberry danish on the bridge the other day. Steve hadn’t even _seen_ the man eat before, let alone catch him eating something that looked like a combination of cardboard and royal icing.

Apparently one didn’t refuse something offered by _the_ Tony Stark. 

The dried blueberries in one of his uniform pockets had been the last straw.

“Stark!” Steve bellowed, bursting into the lab and meeting Banner’s surprised expression head-on. “Where is he?”

“Not sure,” Bruce replied nonchalantly, curiosity skittering across his features before they schooled themselves back into that placid look he usually had. “I’m sure he’ll be back soon. Though I could always let him know you’ve stopped by?”

“No, thanks,” Steve grumbled, turning on his heel and departing the labs before he could sense any more unspoken questions lingering in the air. Stark wasn’t on the main deck, or in any of the labs, or the mess hall, or the common quarters so that left… Steve hovered outside Iron Man’s private quarters, hand raised even though nearly all the fight had drained out of him on this wild goose chase through the helicarrier. 

True, the pranks (if they could be called that) had been mostly harmless. Until this last one. If Steve had needed the tech that was normally in that pouch during the last battle, he would have been left to hang while their enemy-of-the-day got the upper hand. It was endangering him, his team, and most importantly, the civilians they were trying to _save_ for Christ’s sake.

“Stark!” Steve called out in the same moment he rapped his knuckles against the door. Silence greeted him from inside the suite and he almost thought that Iron Man had gone _off_ ship when the door swung open.

“Capsicle,” Stark chirped, leaning on the door jamb and popping, of all god-awful things, another one of the dried blueberries from before into his mouth. “Blueberry?” he offered the bag, brows raised and the hint of a smirk on his lips.

Steve felt the muscles in his jaw twitch as he clenched his teeth together. “No. Thank. You.”

“Suit yourself,” came the answer, just as chipper and light as before. “What can I help you with, Cap?”

“Why,” Steve ground out, reaching into his uniform pocket and pulling out a handful of blueberries with fingers stained dark, “are these in my uniform?”

Stark shrugged. “Thought you could use a snack.” And with that he turned and retreated into the room, leaving the door open. Steve took it as an invitation and pushed his way inside, slamming the metal slab back into its frame. At least _that_ made Stark react, even if it was only a quirk of his brows. 

“You’re creating disruptions aboard this ship and potential hazards for future missions. You aren’t taking this seriously enough.” Steve threw his shoulders back as he spoke, his voice deep and even, though his right fist tightened fractionally around the handful of dried fruit. 

Stark set down the bag he was carrying, turning his attention back to Steve with a flat look on his normally-expressive face. Steve forced himself to look away from lips tinted dark and focus on Stark’s eyes. “I’m taking this seriously, Captain. You’re the one who can’t pick up a hint.”

“Excuse me?” Steve barked, momentarily thrown.

There was a lazy smile creeping across Stark’s lips. “Either flirting has changed one hell of a lot in 70 years, or you were always this oblivious.”

Steve paused, his anger dissipating to make way for the flush that sprawled across his cheeks and along the back of his neck. The fist at his side twitched and loosened. “...what?”

“Flirting, Cap. This thing where someone hits on the other person and if it goes well, well,” Stark waved his hand through air in a circular motion before stepping closer. “And if it doesn’t, we go our separate ways and pretend this never happened.”

The gap between them was swiftly closing and Steve swallowed around the lump in his throat. He watched as Stark’s gaze tracked the motion. “I don’t… know if it’s a good idea.” He hadn’t given himself the option of thinking about things as simple as flirting or relationships, let alone the physical aspects that Stark seemed to be implying. Yes, Stark was handsome and Steve wouldn’t be opposed to the idea but… it had been literal decades since he’d been involved in this kind of a game, and the rules had gone and changed on him. He didn’t know where he stood, whether the earth would shift beneath his feet and he would have to start all over again. 

Stark was close, enough so that Steve could smell the expensive cologne he wore. “Your loss.” He lifted his shoulders in that little half-shrug that seemed to mean he didn’t care but held too much tension for it to be that nonchalant. 

With a quick movement, Steve reached out and grasped Stark’s arm as he was passing, his fingers smearing the dark stains of blueberry into the charcoal of Stark’s suit jacket. There was a moment where their gazes locked before Steve was whirling the brunette, pressing his back against the wall and holding him in place with a palm stained purple and blue. “You need to stop with the blueberries,” Steve whispered, shifting his stance to press a knee between Stark’s thighs. He was satisfied with the sharp intake of air and the way Stark’s eyes went dark with want.

“Yeah. Sure,” Stark answered, sounding a bit breathless. Steve smirked, feeling smug and a little bit cocky as he lifted his hand to sweep his thumb across Stark’s lower lip. It left a smear of darkness in its wake. 

“And for the record,” Steve pressed closer, the distance between them so scant he could feel the heat radiating off the body beneath his own. “I hate blueberries.” He could see Stark opening his mouth to retort, something smart-assed no doubt, but Steve pressed forward to cover the words with a kiss. It was hot and sweet, stained with the taste of berries and whiskey and Tony all at once.

Maybe he could learn to like blueberries.


End file.
